Efficacy and Safety of Brand Versus Generic Alendronate for Osteoporosis Treatment

Randomized Trial Comparing Efficacy and Safety of Brand Versus Generic Alendronate for Osteoporosis Treatment

Osteoporosis is a common disease defined as a decrease in bone mass and strength which increases risk of fragility fractures. This disorder may affecting health in many adults which causing disability, morbidity, and mortality. Current first-line medical therapy is bisphosphonates which alendronate is one of the most widely used. However, expenditure on medicines is one of the major problem of inadequate access to treatment.

The investigators hypothesized that generic alendronate will have the same clinical efficacy as the brand formulation. Therefore, the result of this study is extremely crucial. If adequate efficacy of generic alendronate could be established and if it affords the same safety profile as those of brand alendronate, the use of generic alendronate could then be recommended.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Osteoporosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Generic alendronate

Detailed Description

Osteoporosis is a common disease which estimated that over 200 million people worldwide are suffered. The prevalence is continuing to escalate with the increasingly elderly population. The risk of fragility fractures in elder over age 50 is approximately 50% in women and 20% in men.

Current first-line medical therapy is bisphosphonates which alendronate is one of the most widely used. However, expenditure on medicines is one of the major problem of inadequate access to treatment. Generally, insurances and health care providers prefer physicians to prescribe generic instead of brand drug, due to its lower costs. However, clinical information on bone mineral density (BMD), fracture reduction and side effects with new generic alendronate is limited.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new generic alendronate (Bonmax®) comparing to brand alendronate (Fosamax®). The efficacy of generic alendronate will be determined by measuring the percent changes of bone mineral densities at lumbar spine and total hip after 1 year of treatment and then comparing to those changes in the brand alendronate group.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 140
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Thailand
  • Bangkok
    • Bangkok Noi, Bangkok, Thailand, 10700
      • Siriraj Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria: patients who are postmenopausal women or men who aged older than 50 years and meet the indications for osteoporosis treatment according to the Thai Osteoporosis Foundation's 2010 treatment guidelines.

• History of spinal or hip fractures with low energy trauma.
• BMD by Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan with T-score ≤ -2.5 at the femoral neck, total hip, or L1-L4 spine.
• BMD by DXA scan with T-score between -1 and -2.5 at the femoral neck, total hip, or L1-L4 spine and a 10-year hip fracture probability ≥ 3% or a 10-year major osteoporosis-related fracture probability ≥ 20% based on Fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have contraindications to use bisphosphonates e.g. gastroesophageal reflux disease or drug allergy to bisphosphonates
• Patients with an abnormality of serum calcium levels (more than 10.2 mg/dl or less than 8.7 mg/dl)
• Patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 30 mL/min/1.73 m2
• Patients with metabolic bone diseases such as Paget's disease, hyperparathyroidism, etc.
• Patients who were received anti-osteoporotic drugs during the past 1 year.
• Patients who currently taking steroids, hormone replacement therapy, or selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) within 1 year.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Original alendronate (Fosamax); The patients will be given the brand alendronate (Fosamax®) (70 mg) 1 tablet once a week orally for 1 year after enrollment. In addition, calcium and vitamin D supplementation will be given to all patients.
Active Comparator: Generic alendronate (Bonmax); The patients will be given the generic alendronate (Bonmax®) (70 mg) 1 tablet once a week orally for 1 year after enrollment. In addition, calcium and vitamin D supplementation will be given to all patients.	Drug: Generic alendronate; The patients will be given the generic alendronate 1 tablet per week for approximately 1 year after enrollment.; Other Names: Bonmax

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Bone Mineral Density (BMD) at Lumbar Spine (L1-L4)	Percent changes of bone mineral density at lumbar spine (L1-L4) from baseline to 1-year after treatment will be compared and analysed between 2 groups.	1 year after treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Bone Mineral Density (BMD) at Total Hip	Percent changes of bone mineral density at total hip from baseline to 1-year after treatment will be compared and analysed between 2 groups.	1 year after treatment
Bone Resorption Markers (Serum CTX)	Percent changes of serum bone markers (serum CTX) from baseline to 1-year after treatment will be compared and analysed between 2 groups.	1 year after treatment
Bone Formation Marker (Serum PINP)		1 year after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mahidol University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Aasis Unnanuntana, MD, Mahidol University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Unnanuntana A, Jarusriwanna A, Songcharoen P. Randomized clinical trial comparing efficacy and safety of brand versus generic alendronate (Bonmax(R)) for osteoporosis treatment. PLoS One. 2017 Jul 5;12(7):e0180325. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180325. eCollection 2017.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 7, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 19, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): February 25, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 29, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 1, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Osteoporosis; Bone mineral density; Bisphosphonates; Bone markers; Alendronate
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Metabolic Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Bone Diseases; Bone Diseases, Metabolic; Osteoporosis; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Bone Density Conservation Agents; Alendronate
• Other Study ID Numbers: 150/2557(EC3)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No